On the southern edge of Milpitas, just off the 680, a multi-ethnic congregation has been gathering for more than fifty years at 1000 South Park Victoria Drive. Christ Community Church of Milpitas - known affectionately as C3 - grew out of the same South Bay communities that built the city's reputation as one of the most internationally diverse places in California, and its members still reflect that mix. The church's own leadership describes the congregation as "people from all over the world," a small working reflection of the moment described in Revelation 5:9 when God assembles His people from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
What visitors encounter on a Sunday morning is a busy campus centered on a 10 AM worship service in English, a full children's ministry called C3 Kids running at the same hour, and an evening youth gathering for junior high and high school students. Around that core, the church has built one of the most distinctive ministries in the South Bay: a free, year-round English-as-a-Second-Language program with multiple levels, conversation classes, and even a Bible elective. There is also a Mandarin Sunday Fellowship, a campus-wide "Mission 66" sermon series that walks through every book of the Bible, a retreat-loving men's ministry, an active women's ministry with Bible studies, crafters, line dancing, and a prayer group for moms, a young adults community for those between 18 and 35, and a deep network of partnerships with organizations serving the unhoused, the incarcerated, foster children, and cancer patients.
The Mission 66 Sermon Series: Every Book of the Bible in Order
The church's signature teaching project is called Mission 66, a sermon series designed to walk the congregation straight through all sixty-six books of Scripture. Sermons appear under titles like In the Beginning (Genesis), Be Still (Exodus), Faithless People, Faithful God (Numbers), Approaching the Unapproachable (Leviticus), Moses' Final Words (Deuteronomy), Be Strong and Courageous (Joshua), New Eyes (Judges), Hesed (Ruth), Anointed One (1 Samuel), The Rise, Fall, and Restoration of David (2 Samuel), The Great Trial (Job), Psalms (Praise) and Psalms (Lament), Wise Up (Proverbs), Profit and Portion (Ecclesiastes), Ooh La La (Song of Songs), Hidden Not Absent (Esther), Already and Not Yet (Ezra), Let Us Rebuild (Nehemiah), 2 Kings 2 Chronicles, God's Heart for All (1 Kings and 1 Chronicles), The Holy One Who Loves Justice (Isaiah), and God Saves Believe Him (Jeremiah). Each message has an accompanying reading plan PDF so Life Groups can stay on the same page, and a weekly set of Life Group Questions is published for the same purpose.
The series title is also the name of a campus-wide scavenger hunt the church has built around it. As part of the Mission 66 Game, sixty-six unique signs are hidden both indoors and outdoors around the C3 campus. Visitors and members can track their finds on a paper tracker from the lobby or through an online tracker, and anyone who checks off all sixty-six receives a custom C3 mug plus a free drink from the on-campus coffee shop.
Sunday Mornings at 10
The regular Sunday gathering begins at 10 AM in the main sanctuary and is offered both in person and as a livestream on YouTube. The service is in English, though the leadership notes that "it's not unusual to hear people speaking different languages in our courtyard after a worship service." Children from nursery through sixth grade are checked in at the Children's Center before the service, and families who prefer to worship together are welcome to keep their children with them - kids are "totally welcome in our services any time."
Worship is led by the Worship Ministries team under Worship Director Todd Dunn, who grew up attending the church beginning in 1970 and has served on staff since 2000. The team's motto is "We are more than the Arts, we are family," and they see themselves as a place where new and talented musicians can use their gifts. Musicals and special services mark the church calendar, including a Palm Sunday musical titled Bow the Knee, a Maundy Thursday service with a simple meal of soup and bread in the Social Hall, a Good Friday service in the main sanctuary, and a single combined Easter service followed by a Family Sunday potluck and service projects.
C3 Kids: Little Steps Toward Big Faith
Children's Ministry Director Renee Dunn has served in children's ministry for almost thirty years. She leads a team that, in her words, "partners with families to help equip children to know, grow, and show God's love." The Sunday morning program, called C3 Kids, serves children from nursery through sixth grade and begins at 10 AM in the Children's Center, where families check in at the booth before the service. On Wednesday evenings during the school year, children ages three through sixth grade return for games, snacks, Bible teaching, worship, and a lot of laughter between 6:30 and 8 PM.
The wider children's ministry extends beyond Sunday programming. Summer brings a day camp for incoming third through sixth graders, with lessons, field trips, and service opportunities designed to build faith, friendships, and leadership. The annual Mother-Son Nerf Battle invites boys in kindergarten through sixth grade and the special women in their lives to spend a Saturday morning in the Social Hall with blasters, breakfast, and an encouragement from Ephesians 6:10. A separate Respite event each spring welcomes children with special needs (developmental ages zero through twelve) and their siblings for an afternoon of recreation, with teen and adult volunteers serving as one-on-one buddies. A back-to-school supply drive each summer collects easel pads, pencils, composition notebooks, scissors, construction paper, markers, crayons, whiteboards, and graph paper for teachers at local Rose and Randall schools.
Childcare Coordinator Devi Arriola and Children's Ministry Assistant Andrea Marley round out the daily team, handling recruiting, volunteer oversight, preschool teaching, and the practical work of running a program that takes the next generation seriously. The church's core values spell this out plainly: "We unapologetically put kids first, equipping them as ministry partners."
C3 Youth: Sundays at 5, Thursdays for Life Groups
Junior high and high school students meet together on Sunday evenings from 5 to 7 PM in the Social Hall. The night opens with a time of praise and worship, moves into a teaching message, and closes with a group game and time to hang out until pickup. On Thursday evenings during the school year, students gather in smaller Life Groups from 6:30 to 8 PM for a midweek check-in, a Bible study, and prayer.
Connections Pastor David Ding oversees the youth ministry and describes the goal as helping "students become more like Jesus." The church's stance is that the best place for students to grow in their faith is with the larger body of believers, so middle and high schoolers are encouraged to attend the Sunday morning service as well - either with their families or in the unofficial youth section on the left-hand side of the worship center. Once a year, the church offers a five-week confirmation class for students in grades eight through twelve, after which students may be baptized and become official Covenant Partners of the church. Parents are also supported through digital resources from Axis, RightNow Media, and the C3 YouTube channel.
Life Groups, C3 Men, and C3 Women
Life Groups are the church's small-group backbone - regular gatherings where members pray for one another, study the Bible, and discuss that weekend's sermon series together. Groups meet in homes, on campus, and online across the week, and the church describes them as the primary place "life-change happens in the context of relationships."
The men's ministry is led by Lay Pastor Tom Giovannini, who has been attending C3 with his wife Shelley since 1986. The ministry's stated aim is "the transformation of ordinary men into mature disciples of Jesus who live intentionally and fruitfully for Jesus in all areas of their lives." Two weekly discipleship groups walk through the Book of Romans together - one in the Fireside Room on Thursday evenings from 7:30 to 9 PM, the other in the Sequoia Room and on Zoom on Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 10 AM. The men's calendar also includes an annual retreat at Redwood Christian Park, Saturday work mornings, pancake breakfasts, and ongoing BBQ mixers hosted at CityTeam in San Jose.
The women's ministry, C3 Women, has a particularly full weekly rhythm. The Women's Bible Study meets in the Sequoia Room on Thursday evenings at 7 PM, with a separate morning study running 9:30 to 11 AM that resumes each September. Wise Ones, a community for women fifty-five and older, gathers the second and fourth Wednesdays from 11:30 AM to 3 PM for field trips, potlucks, games, and outreach. Crafters for Christ meets the second and fourth Fridays at 9:30 AM to make handmade projects that are donated to local charities. Moms in Prayer meets twice each Monday - at 8:45 AM on a free conference app and again at 7 PM on Zoom - to pray for children and their schools. A line dancing program fills the Social Hall on Tuesdays from 9 to 11:30 AM and again on Thursday mornings in two sessions, and the ministry also gathers for an annual retreat, a spring Pancakes and Praise brunch, a fall Farmers Market fundraiser, and a CreativiTea afternoon with simple crafts and tea treats.
ESL: A Place to Learn English and Make Friends
For many in Milpitas, C3 is best known as the church with the ESL program. The English-as-a-Second-Language ministry offers beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes in practical everyday English - life skills, conversations, current events, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, American history - along with optional Bible classes. Classes run between forty-five and seventy-five minutes and are held both on campus and online via Zoom. On-campus registration is available Tuesdays from 12 to 1 PM and on the second and third Saturdays from 10:30 to 11:30 AM in Room EC-101.
The program is open to anyone eighteen and older from any city, county, state, or country, and there is no maximum age. A $50 annual registration fee covers materials, with a $30 spring semester fee and a $20 fall semester fee; Bible-only classes are free. There are no grades and no transcripts, and there is no graduation - students simply move up to higher-level classes as their English improves, or stay in a class as long as they feel they are learning. A short oral and written placement test, given either in person or online, helps match each student with the right class. The program's Facebook page keeps current students and alumni connected through social activities and ongoing friendships.
Caring for the Community: Outreach and Partnerships
C3 practices what it calls "a church in action" through a long list of recurring partnerships. On Family Sundays each month, the congregation gathers after the 10 AM service for a potluck lunch in the Social Hall and then splits into service teams - visiting the homebound, packing craft packets for India, collecting supplies for CityTeam, creating blessing bags for the unhoused, building teacher appreciation gifts, or putting together potted succulents to deliver to neighbors.
The church's Missions ministry supports individual missionaries and partner organizations. JD and Edna Auxtero serve with Tagaytay Christian Academy in the Philippines, raising up young Christian leaders and ministering to people in extreme poverty. Bonnie Henson works with Wycliffe Bible Translators, contributing to online training that reaches around the world. Locally, Christians Embracing Diversity offers resources for building bridges across cultures in the South Bay. Foster the City connects members with the foster care system beyond what they can do on their own. Compassion International child sponsorship is promoted through the church. Milpitas Cares, the largest community service event in and for Milpitas, was born more than a decade ago when a group of local pastors asked, "Why can't we take better care of our community?" - C3 is one of its longstanding partners. CIC Jail Ministries sends volunteers into local jails for fellowship and worship with incarcerated brothers and sisters, and a Cancer Support Ministry meets at noon on the last Monday of each month for anyone affected by cancer.
The Mandarin Ministry and a Growing Multilingual Family
After more than fifty years of drawing people from many language backgrounds, the church has begun formalizing that diversity. Mandarin Ministry Coordinator April Han, who came to the Bay Area in 2022 to complete her theological studies and interned in C3 children's ministry, leads the Mandarin Sunday Fellowship that meets after worship on the second, third, and fourth Sundays of each month. Held in Education Center Room 202, the fellowship begins at 11:30 AM and runs to 1 PM with a shared lunch, games, Christian testimonies, and a relaxed atmosphere described by the Chinese-language announcement as koinonia - the biblical Greek word for a community of believers sharing life together. Each quarter includes a special gathering beyond the regular Sunday rhythm.
Young Adults: Community, Discipleship, Relationship
The Young Adults ministry serves those between eighteen and thirty-five who are looking for community and discipleship. The group describes itself as "a diverse group pursuing the life God designed for us," and meets for Young Adults Nights with worship and guest speakers, building relationships that extend beyond the campus into shared life.
Beliefs and Partner Denomination
C3 holds to a classical evangelical statement of faith rooted in Scripture. Members affirm belief in one God in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who lived a sinless life, died on the cross as the sacrifice for sin, rose again on the third day, ascended to heaven, and will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They affirm the Holy Spirit's present work to make people aware of their need for Christ, to dwell in those who trust Him, and to give spiritual gifts to every believer. The Bible is described as God's divine Word, "inspired by God and without error," the only reliable guide to life and salvation. Human beings, made in God's image, are marred by sin, and salvation is God's free gift received by faith in Jesus Christ alone.
The church's four core values make the priorities concrete: Christ - "a Christ-centered, Biblically based, Spirit-led congregation"; Community - "All people matter to God and are welcomed into our life-changing community"; Children - putting kids first and equipping them as ministry partners; and Mission - worship that is "lived out in joyful service to our community and the world." The congregation serves together with other churches in a mission called A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO), and visitors who want to dig into ECO's essential tenets can request the denomination's statement of faith directly from the church.
Leadership and the Session
Senior Pastor Matt Robbins leads the pastoral team. He holds a Doctorate in Ministry and a Master of Divinity from Fuller Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts from UC Davis, and has served as a college pastor in Davis, a senior pastor in Jacksonville, Florida, and a missionary in Ghana with International Justice Mission working against child trafficking. Connections Pastor David Ding oversees youth, young adults, and newcomer pathways; he served four years as a college pastor at his alma mater UC Davis and three years as a youth pastor in Southern California. Care and Discipleship Pastor Todd Misfeldt came to ministry after a forty-year career in software and investment properties, completing a Master of Divinity at Fuller Seminary.
Worship Director Todd Dunn has been on staff since 2000 and grew up attending the church beginning in 1970. Executive Director Sue McKinney oversees the church's finance and administration and commutes 150 miles round trip to serve at C3. Children's Ministry Director Renee Dunn leads the children's team alongside Childcare Coordinator Devi Arriola and Children's Ministry Assistant Andrea Marley. Men's Ministry Lay Pastor Tom Giovannini leads men's discipleship. Operations Manager Lanard McClindon brings a background in business consulting, inner healing ministry, accounting, and life coaching, along with a Master of Divinity from the School of Urban Missions. Mandarin Ministry Coordinator April Han oversees the Chinese-language fellowship. Communications Coordinator Ben Kim runs the church's weekly email and social media, and Youth Ministry Assistant Anastasiya Rakova supports the youth ministry. Facilities Coordinator Josh John has served the church for twenty-six years and led more than thirty mission trips with students.
The Session - the church's governing board - includes the pastors and elders elected by the congregation: Tom Giovannini, Lorsen Koo, Matt Robbins, Ron Wetter, Kevin Johnson, Bill Barnes, Diana Shak, Yvonne Porterfield, Jessica Woodworth, and Cheryl Chin.
Planning a First Visit
Sunday services begin at 10 AM in the main sanctuary and are livestreamed on YouTube for those who want to follow along from home. The church is located at 1000 South Park Victoria Drive, Milpitas, with plenty of parking on campus. Greeters meet newcomers at the entrance and direct families to the Children's Check-In booth for the nursery through sixth-grade program that runs at the same time as the service. Children are welcome in the service any time, and there is no pressure to use the children's program.
Newcomers are invited to stop by the coffee shop in the lobby after the service, where the Mission 66 game also begins for anyone who wants to start hunting for the hidden signs. There is no dress code beyond "come as you are." For families with kids, the Wednesday evening program for ages three through sixth grade returns each September and runs during the school year from 6:30 to 8 PM.
Giving and Getting Connected
C3 supports its ministry through the faithful giving of its members and visitors. Gifts can be made online through the church's secure giving portal, by texting "Give" to 1-408-882-1334, or by mailing a check to the church office at 1000 South Park Victoria Drive, Milpitas, CA 95035. Beyond giving, the church offers multiple ways to serve: worship, youth, office, kids, community coffee, guest experience, and production teams each have their own volunteer pathways and can be explored through the Serve page. Life Groups, ESL classes, and the various men's, women's, young adults, and Mandarin ministries are all open to newcomers, and a Partnership Class offered twice a year walks newcomers through baptism and church membership for those who want to formalize their commitment to Christ Community Church.
Christ Community Church of Milpitas is a fifty-year-old family that looks the way the Bay Area looks: multi-ethnic, multilingual, multi-generational, and deeply committed to the gospel. Whether the path that brings someone to the campus is a need for English classes, a child's first Sunday school class, a young family looking for community, a Mandarin speaker searching for fellowship, or a long-time believer looking for a church that takes the whole Bible seriously, the doors at 1000 South Park Victoria Drive stay open - and the courtyard conversations after the service often continue in several languages at once.